Attrition in Domestic Violence Offences: An Empirical Study

• In Event: The Punishment of Domestic Violence and Sex Offenses

Abstract

This presentation shows the way in which cases of domestic violence are dealt with by the criminal justice system, paying particular attention to the so-called loss of cases throughout it. Data are taken from an empirical study conducted in Switzerland in which we follow all the cases of domestic violence registered by the police force of one canton in the first half of a year (N=592). These cases were then retrieved at the office of the Public Prosecutor and at the criminal courts. The results show that the attrition rate varies widely according to the type of offence involved. Indeed, the concept of domestic violence encompasses a wide range of offences in such a way that the attrition rates are affected by the kind of offence involved as well as by the specific dispositions introduced in the criminal code to deal with this phenomenon. Consequently, the presentation also discusses the pertinence of the classic definitions of attrition when applied to the specific context of domestic violence offences.

Authors

• Marcelo F. Aebi, University of Lausanne

• Julien Chopin, University of Lausanne